EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ted Cruz Presses DHS Sec. Mayorkas Over Biden Administration’s Use of Family Reunification Program

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz sent a letter Monday to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers about President Joe Biden administrations Family Reunification Task Force (FRTF).

In the letter, first obtained by the Daily Caller, Cruz calls for answers to a number of questions about how DHS is executing this program, including how FRTF defines “household,” how FRTF vets household members to be reunified in the U.S. and whether FRTF is giving legal status to individuals who previously tried to illegally cross the border.

Biden ordered the formation of the FRTF, which works to reunite minors with their families if they are separated while trying to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border, when he first took office. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Ted Cruz Urged Members To Pause Additional Spending In Senate GOP Phone Call)

“It is unclear if standard vetting processes are applied in such cases where presumably, some, or perhaps many, of these household members reunified in the US were previously expelled for illegally crossing the border in contradiction of federal criminal law. Generally, such persons would be barred from re-entry to the US for a period ranging anywhere from 5 up to 20 years,” Cruz wrote in the letter.

Here Are The Questions Cruz Asks In The Letter: 

• What is the total number of applications submitted to FRTF for reunification? Please provide the data broken out by country?
• For each application resulting in reunification, please identify the total number of persons in each household brought to the U.S.
• a. Have any applications resulting in reunification in the U.S. resulted in a case where a household is relocated in a city that is different from the city where the child such household applied to be reunified with is located? If so, please identify the total number of such cases as well as which cities the child and household are located in for each case.
• What criteria does the FRTF use in determining whether to include a particular individual claimed as a household member?
• How does FRTF define the term “household”?
• How does FRTF verify if a person listed on an application as a household member is a member of that household?
• How does FRTF vet household members to be reunified in the U.S.?
• What factors would disqualify an applicant from reunification in the U.S.? If a household member has a criminal history for prosecution in the U.S. for illegally crossing the border, would that be disqualifying? If not, how many total persons have been reunified in the U.S. who have previously been prosecuted for illegally crossing the border?
• What private and non-governmental organizations are involved in facilitating FRTF’s mission? Please detail the terms of the arrangement, including the total amount of funds that have been allocated to such groups.

READ THE LETTER HERE: 

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

Border agents encountered a record two million migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021. In fiscal 2021, they seized $3.31 billion in counterfeit goods, over 319,000 pounds of marijuana, over 190,000 pounds of methamphetamine and over 97,000 pounds of cocaine. (RELATED: Ted Cruz Introduces Legislation To Send Illegal Immigrants To Martha’s Vineyard, Other ‘Democrat-Led Communities’)

The Daily Caller contacted DHS about the letter to which they did not immediately respond.